Unschooling and Important Requests
semajrak
Our 8 yr old son was recently fighting a bacterial infection that left him nearly dehydrated. As a result, we needed to give him a sip or two of liquid every twenty minutes or so for a twenty four hour period. More than that he vomited, less than that he would be risking a hospital stay.
He is feeling much better today, but the one thing I have been thinking a lot about, is how easy it was (relatively speaking) to repeatedly sit him up and request that he take these sips. He didn't fight us. He wasn't happy about it, but it seemed like he trusted that if we were asking this from him, it must be important.
In the car today, coming back from his pediatrician, I asked our son if it was difficult for him to keep getting up like that for us. He said it wasn't fun, but he figured it was necessary. It struck me that one wonderful and important benefit of living a life of trust and respect for my child, is that when something really important is requested, my son trusts us to comply.
This is an unexpected insight for me, and I am so happy about it. Just wanted to share.
Karen.
He is feeling much better today, but the one thing I have been thinking a lot about, is how easy it was (relatively speaking) to repeatedly sit him up and request that he take these sips. He didn't fight us. He wasn't happy about it, but it seemed like he trusted that if we were asking this from him, it must be important.
In the car today, coming back from his pediatrician, I asked our son if it was difficult for him to keep getting up like that for us. He said it wasn't fun, but he figured it was necessary. It struck me that one wonderful and important benefit of living a life of trust and respect for my child, is that when something really important is requested, my son trusts us to comply.
This is an unexpected insight for me, and I am so happy about it. Just wanted to share.
Karen.